We all know that you can earn money online through blogging and writing articles for bloggers. Is there another way to generate revenue through writing articles? You bet. For those of you that love writing, but simply have no time to start a blog, there’s a solution for you– revenue sharing websites. These are simply websites that allow you write content for them, and then in return they share a piece of the advertising revenue with you.

Some of the benefits of revenue sharing websites?

1. Established system.

Most of these sites have an established structure in place. Your job is to simply write the articles. The website is established throughout the search engines, the domain is setup, and the theme is in place. Everything is pretty much ready to go for you.

2. No behind the scenes blog work.

You won’t have to deal with all of the behind the scenes work that us bloggers perform on a daily basis. There is no reader correspondence, SEO work, marketing, promotion, etc. You simply focus on what you do best.

3. Focus on writing.

Once all of the distractions (emailing, networking, social media, etc.) have been removed, you can focus on writing quality articles that will hopefully gain traction. The best part is that you can write as many articles as you want on as many topics as you would like to write about.

A few examples of revenue sharing websites?

Associate Content
Article Income
Bukisa

Where does this form of passive income stand?

This is arguably one of the most difficult forms of passive income to jump into at this point. You have to invest PLENTY of time upfront to pump out lots of articles. There’s also no guarantee that you will earn any money at all from all of the articles that you’ve written.

The payment structure on some of the sites is also not very lucrative for the articles that are not highly ranked. A few years ago, I heard of many writers that were earning decent residual income because of how high some of their articles ranked. Now, it’s much more difficult to break through.

I would also recommend revenue sharing websites for those of you that love to write and help people. If you want to make money online then this is probably the last option that you should consider.

Selling your old junk on the internet has become a fairly popular source of passive income. The income itself isn’t completely passive but it does come fairly easily. You put up an ad online for a product that you’re trying to sell, others bid for it, the person that’s willing to spend the most money is then rewarded with your product. Sweet! You win by getting of a dust collector that’s not really adding any value to your life. The other person wins because they just picked up something that they were searching for.

Instead of giving you chearleading and simply hyping up the process of selling your stuff online I wanted to tell you what you need to consider before you start selling stuff online:

What site will you use?

There are many sites to choose from. From eBay to Craig’s List to Kijiji (and many other emerging sites, both local and international). Does it matter what site you use? Yes it does 100%. Every site has a different auction setup/pricing structure. I’ve lost money unnecessarily to eBay just because I wanted to reach the front of the page. The auction setup is also very important because this dictates the amount of communication that will occur. On Ebay, you rarely communicate with potential buyers, unless they want to ask you specific questions. Through CL & Kijiji I find that there’s lots of communication involved. You need to exchange emails, phone calls, and arrange for any scheduling discrepancies that may occur.

Will you ship internationally?

I once sold a product to the highest bidder in Germany. I was happy with the amount that the person was willing to pay for the product. In fact, it was much more money than I was expecting by far. There was only one problem. The shipping of this product to Germany was much more than I expected. Even worse, it was much more than I told the buyer it would be. At the end of the day I was upset and the buyer was pretty disappointed as well. You always need to consider international shipping fees and customs– they can make or break your online transaction.

Do you prefer something local?

When selling textbooks and larger items, I’ve preferred to sell on local sites. I find that you’re more likely to sell textbooks on the local version of Kijiji, where other students from your school are more likely to frequent. The local transaction is also a lot easier to deal with logistically. The biggest issue is trying to arrange a perfect time to meet up with the buyer.

What’s the product worth?

Just because something has sentimental value to you, it doesn’t mean that it has market value to others. I’ve sold stuff that I found to be highly valuable for next to nothing simply because there was no demand for it. Before you even put your product up for sale on the auction site, you need to search for similar products to determine what you should expect to receive from your transaction.

Hopefully this post has given you a realistic perspective when it comes to selling your stuff online.

Make money online guaranteed. A line that I’ve seen all too many times on the internet. Actually, to be honest, I’m completely sick of that expression. I wanted to address this statement and present you all with some facts on making money online.

Making money online takes a long time.

It will take a long time before you see ANY online income at all. It’ll be even longer until you’re making so much money that you can quit your job. Most part-time internet entrepreneurs will be part-time for many, many years. I’ve been part-time for almost 1.5 years. There’s others that have been making money online for over 5 years, but are still not full time. Why is this?

Making money online is risky.

Yes, I realize that any business you start will have certain risks. Making money online is no different. Anyone can take it away from you. Whether it be due to legal reasons or the market simply becomes too competitive and you can no longer maintain your position. Anything can happen. You can go from making 15 grand a month online to barely being able to afford your rent. It’s a virtual community and anything can happen.

Why are there so few full-time internet entrepreneurs?

Most “make money online guaranteed” believers will give up.

I started blogging and writing about money without realizing that there’s actually money out there to be made. If you come in thinking about the money right off the bat, you’ll be in for a nice little surprise. Most bloggers don’t make any money for the first 6 months. After that a little bit of income slowly starts to come in. Even then, the income does NOT by any means justify the LATE hours and hours of research.

If you are serious about making money online, or pursuing a steady source of passive income– congratulations! You’ve come to the right place. We will research many income generating ideas together. If you want to make money online guaranteed– sorry! Not today, not tomorrow, but one day down the road we will all build new solid streams of income. At the moment all we can do it work towards our goals.

You know that your blog requires search optimization. You realize that a little SEO could yield some decent traffic to your blog/landing page. You blog on the side. You really don’t want to spend hours reading about the exciting world of SEO (believe me, I purchased a Search Engine Optimization textbook from school and it took me a few months to go over it). The question now becomes, should you pay for search engine optimization services?

First of all– SEO depends on your business/blog monetization model.

If you are attempting to sell a product on your website or if you want to strictly monetize your blog with Google Adsense then you may need to improve the SEO on your blog. Whether you pay for it or work on improving your SEO on your own is your prerogative. If you feel that working on your own SEO would be too time consuming, then consider the following information before you pay for SEO services:

How much are you willing to spend?

There are SEO consultants and service providers that can provide extensive SEO– but you will pay some heavy coin for this. It’s not a matter of being tight with your money, but how much is SEO really worth on your tiny blog or new business site? Sure it could help. The problem is that you need to decide if SEO services are really the best way to invest money into your online business.

What’s the reason for the SEO services?

Are you planning on releasing a product? Perhaps you’re looking to spread the word about your new business or blog? Either way there should be a reason for you feeling that you need to pay for SEO services. I’ve personally considered it myself. The deciding factor for me has always been that I don’t want Google Adsense to be my number 1 bread winner. That plus the fact that I don’t sell anything on my blog.

However, if you do plan on releasing a new product or running a blog that earns money strictly off Google Adsense, then an investment in SEO services could be the best thing for your business model.

Remember: the Search engine optimization consultant must show quantitative value. You need to know how they will justify their cost and provide you with a solid ROI.

Can you spread the word in other ways?

I would love to spend a few hundred dollars on SEO services and then watch my blog traffic/income skyrocket. Unfortunately, this isn’t what happens. For me there is no guarantee that an increase in on-blog post search engine optimization will bring in more income. It could bring in more traffic in theory, but not the kind of traffic that I would like to have. I would rather build a community of link minded folks that want to discuss and heatedly debate personal finance topics.

There are also many other ways that one can spread the word about their blog or new product for free:

1. Guest posting. Absolutely free. The catch is that you’re going to have to build relationships with key people in your niche. Once you do, hopefully they allow you to guest post on their blogs (assuming that the post is worth it).

2. Social media. Twitter, Facebook, Digg, etc. have been known to bring a small blog infront of a large audience. Twitter provides the potential to get in touch with key people (and really busy people) in your niche. Facebook allows you to amass a following of like-minded people that share interests with you. Then sites like Digg and StumbleUpon allow you to promote your best content to the rest of the internet.

For the sake of this post I’ve simplified the above options. In application, they could either be a lot easier or perhaps more difficult for you to implement. However, both are viable options to consider for promotion before you pay someone to boost your SEO rankings.

SEO tips from other bloggers:

SEO Doesn’t Matter @ The Simple Dollar

Optimize a Single Post on your Blog @ Pro Blogger

8 First Step Tips for Beginner Bloggers @ Pro Blogger

As I work on researching possible post topics for this blog, I have NOT been enamored with the information that is out there on making money online. I make a few dollars online so I’m clearly in no position to judge. But the fact that I do work online and spend a majority of my time working on my blog, I feel that I’ve learned a thing or two about making money online.

Let’s tear apart some of the common BS that goes around about making money online:

The simplicity of following your passions.

Yes you can make money follow your passions. No it’s not simple. Too often do “online money making experts” write about how you should follow your passions and that the money will simply follow. The money won’t follow. You need to make things happen. You need to ensure that you’re in a field with a decent following. You also need to ensure that you’re not in an over saturated niche.

Worrying about money before the time is right.

Guilty as charged. To make money you need readers. To get readers you need to provide something of substance. Many of us that are new to whole world of making money online become infatuated with the idea that we can make money from being on the internet. The sad truth is that this constant quest for high monetization dilutes our focus and ends up hurting our income in the long run.

Google Adsense placement does NOT matter for the first few months.
Selling affiliate products will not happen at the start of things.
Writing articles with only SEO in mind will not go over well with our readers (or lack of readers).

The ability to work less hours.

Okay I read the 4-Hour Workweek (you know, the Tim Ferriss book) and I know that you can automate your online revenue streams and eventually turn them into passive income. This isn’t going to happen right off the bat.

I certainly do NOT under any means work less hours online. I find myself working on my blogs almost all of the time. I’m pretty sure that my girlfriend is going to kick my ass soon because every time a post idea hits me, I whip out my iPhone to start making notes.

I’m sure that you can eventually automate everything, but at the very start you’re going to work harder than you ever have in your life. Once you put up an eBook for sell/create a subscription website you can cut back on your duties. BUT- chances are that you’re going to want to work more. This is your thing. Your very own creation. Why would you not want to work on your online revenue streams?

This is only the beginning. This blog is a place where we can all share our thoughts on passive income and everything that surrounds. As the blog grows I will address more common myths about making money online.

This is the introduction to how I will help you make extra money online. Actually let me correct that, I will also learn how to make money online through the help of you guys, the PIN community!

There are many ways to make money online.

As a matter of fact I’m willing to be $100 that there are just as many ways to make money online as there are ways to lose weight. I already covered 5 legit ways to make money online if you want a brief overview as to how you can make extra money online. I have tried a few of these methods and have had some very minor success. Going forward I would love to make more money online but I simply need to dedicate more time to my online endeavors. What can you do to improve your online money making potential?

Make money online for free without purchasing any get rich quick system.

Yes I know how you can pay certain internet marketers a couple of hundred dollars and they will show you how to make money online. Has this ever worked? I have never met a real internet entrepreneur that made money through paying someone to learn some complex system. It was all done through a great idea and hard work. Sure you can pay a consultant to offer you tips on how to make money online or you could try to follow in your steps, but you should never pay for a system that promises to get you rich.

Make money online guaranteed is ridiculous.

When some “internet entrepreneur expert” tells me about how to make guaranteed money online I find it to be probably the mos funniest statement I have ever heard in my life. There is no such system or formula to make money online guaranteed. It just like making money at every other facet in life. You have to work hard, beat your competition, have a unique selling proposition, add value, and be willing to work long hours with potential low payoffs.

If you are committed to making money online and putting in the work, then please join us on our passive income journey!

Many books have been written about Google Adsense secrets but how many of them are legit? Google Adsense revenue is exaggerated about 99.9% of the time. First of all, it is a very time consuming process to make any decent money of Adsense. If it really was that easy then everybody would be doing it.

Since you are here and willing to do your research, allow me to share the few Google Adsense revenue tips I have picked up over the years.

Certain topics will rank well in search engines but not geenrate a good income

You can write a blog entry on college dorm room life and hit the top of Google. You will receive a plethora of visitors but what’s it worth at the end of the day if the clicks are low? Hopefully you enjoy writing about the topic because if you don’t then you really can’t rely on the money to cheer you up.

There are topics that I personally love writing about and don’t care if they generate any Google Adsense revenue. If you are trying to turn your blog into a significant source of income than you would be better off writing about investment topics as opposed to frugality tips.

There are ads made just for Adsense

These ads that are just made for Adsense that typically pay a horrible rate per click. I learned this the hard way. I experienced a high traffic day, which resulted in plenty of clicks. When I looked at the actual revenue earned I realized that it was under a buck. How could this be possible? The made for adsense advertisers were all over the page.

There’s a way to filter out Made For Adsense advertisers

The competitive ad filter can be your best friend when it comes to make money from Google Adsense. You get a hold of all of the low CPC advertisers and scammers so you can place them in the ad filter. Once in the ad filter their ads can no longer appear on your site.

It is important that you update your ad filter often. The MFA advertisers come fast and furious. There are new ones emerging every single day. You need to stay on top of them. Whenever you notice a low CPC, look into it to see who’s responsible for it.

Google Adsense is smarter than you

You can click your own ads until your blue in the face and make $20 but Google will definitely find out. If Google doesn’t find out then the advertisers themselves will pull out from your site because of all of the empty clicks.

What’s an empty click? When a link is clicked but nothing comes out of it. Either the user immediately closes it or presses the “back” button. Google Adsense advertisers are paying big bucks to rank for certain keywords or to sell certain products. Why would they advertise on a site that is potentially engaging in click fraud?

(Full disclosure: I barely make anything off Adsense. This is just what I have learned during my time as an online entrepreneur.)

Everyone wants to make online fast, retire at age 40, and relax on the beach all day. Well if you are one of those people you might want to press the X button right about now. Passive Income Now is about creating a steady source of passive income together. Of course the road to passive income requires active income. Many passive income ventures require you to have some money saved up.

Today I will share 5 ways to make money online fast but with effort required.

This is not the article for those looking to become a millionaire by next summer. This is a perfect article for those that are tired of their 9-5 job and would like to make money online as a career. This article is also ideal for those of you that spend hours in front of a computer and would love to make an additional income. Since this blog is about earning a passive income, some of the ideas are passive.

1. Sell stuff on eBay

Selling stuff on eBay is one of the oldest ways of making money online. You tired of something around the house? Have old collectibles you want to sell? Then eBay is the place where an online market is setup for you (the supplier) to sell a product to another user (the demander, I know the word doesn’t exist but I wanted to use supply & demand).

Of course the main setback of this way to make money online is that you have a limited amount of things you can sell. Yes there are the exceptions and people that sell random junk to make money. If you want to earn serious money on eBay you need to put some effort in. As Passive Income Now grows I will touch upon this topic in greater detail.

2. Make money online from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk

This is an interesting source of online revenue. You get paid a set amount for every small task that you complete. Some would argue that this source of online income is very low. The benefit here is that you can be doing something else at the same time while you make some pocket change. I wouldn’t quit my job to work on Mechanical Turk full time but I would definitely consider it in my spare time. Trent of The Simple Dollar wrote about his experience with earning money from Mechanical Turk. Trent pretty much came to the conclusion that you will earn a minimum wage income from this service.

3. Write an eBook on a topic of expertise

Pat from Smart Passive Income started working from home when he wrote & sold an e-book based on how to pass a certain architecture exam. Pat was passionate about a topic that lots of people were searching for. Pat then decided to spend hours of his free time on writing a study guide for this exam. A little bit of design help & SEO led to Pat having some very successful months (as you can see from his monthly income reports) with his online business. Only write an eBook on a topic that you honestly have a great wealth of knowledge in and a topic that is searched for by many. Not sure how well an eBook would do on the life & times of K-Fed.

4. Write freelance articles

There are bloggers out there looking for solid freelance writers that can put together highly optimized articles for search engines. You can always start off by checking out the ProBlogger job board for potential writing gigs. If you don’t want to write articles for blogs you can always find work in your specific niche. A former co-worker of mine ended up writing articles for Mixed Martial Arts sites. Of course he had a background in the training for the sport and people wanted to know his opinion. No matter what your interests are, I’m sure someone out there wants to know your opinion.

5. Sell stock photos

Of course you can’t just snap a few pictures and expect the online income to start flowing in. There are people out there that take photography extremely seriously and are able to earn a decent living from selling their photos. If you check out iStockPhoto you can see what the going rates for certain images are and if you have the talent to make money online from this source.

If you are realistic and willing to put in a little bit of effort you can find yourself earning some good money online.

photo: SignsofCare